More than 30 stores in New Towne Mall will be part of the national trend of stores opening Thanksgiving night.

The stores and the mall will open at 8 p.m. and remain open throughout the traditional "Black Friday" before closing at 9 p.m. Friday.

Mall General Manager Jody Hopkins said that the retailers have confirmed they will open when the mall opens at 8 p.m. A few others are awaiting direction from their corporate offices. There are 53 stores in the mall in addition to the five anchor stores and kiosks. Four anchor stores, Kohl's, Elder-Beerman, J.C. Penney and Sears, all will open at 8 p.m.

Marshalls, the fifth anchor store, will not open until 7 a.m. Friday. Although the store doesn't offer "Black Friday" discounts, it's still expected to attract shoppers because of its routine low-price approach and being open while many people are in a buying mood.

"We think it will be successful," Adria Bergeron, mall marketing director, said of the Thanksgiving night venture.

For the past two years, some stores in New Towne Mall opened at midnight. The mall remained open through "Black Friday" before closing at 9 p.m. Friday.

In 2011, some stores opened at 3 a.m., with all open by 6 a.m. on "Black Friday" only.

"It was very, very successful last year after opening at midnight," Hopkins said. "There were lines outside all of the anchor stores. Sears opened last year at 8 p.m., and lines started forming outside at 6 p.m. Sears was packed after opening."

The National Retail Federation said that "Black Friday" remains the biggest shopping day of the year. Some people refer to shopping on Thanksgiving as "Grey Thursday."

Hopkins said that for some retailers, November and December account for 60 percent of annual sales volume.

"It's earlier this year, and everyone is wondering how the customer is going to 'vote,' with the dollars they spend," Hopkins said. "We don't know if there's a 'magic cutoff time' for what would be too early to open on Thanksgiving Day. Some people don't like the thought of being open on Thanksgiving, but if customers are out shopping, that will dictate the changes in starting times going forward."

The fierce competition to lure shoppers spending Christmas holiday dollars has prompted ever-earlier discount offerings. In 2009, when some major retailers first tried opening on Thanksgiving Day, a National Retail Federation survey found only 3 percent of shoppers starting at midnight or earlier. By 2012, that soared to nearly 28 percent.

A National Retail Federation survey found that 53.8 percent of Americans already have started their holiday shopping this year.

Bergeron said that when major retailer Macy's recently announced that it would open Thanksgiving night, other retailers followed suit. Target pushed its opening to 8 p.m., an hour earlier than last year. Toys "R" Us will be open at 5 p.m. The ripple effect nationwide pushed into the Tuscarawas Valley region.

Page 2 of 2 - "We follow the lead of our anchor stores, and we have to react to the requests from our tenants," Bergeron said. "Several store managers said their corporate direction was to follow the lead of the anchor stores at their mall. After seeing the majority consensus, we decided to open up the mall's concourse."

Hopkins, a former manager for J.C. Penney, said the earlier starting times "presents a staffing challenge for some stores. That's a comment that we heard from managers, almost across the board. They're still trying to figure out what will be the best scheduling – when they'll be the busiest or when it will ease up."

Hopkins said that many families will spend part of Thanksgiving Day with relatives for the traditional meal or watching sports, then go shopping.

"It's more convenient for some folks to go during the evening than getting up so early," he said.

Hopkins said that, based on national surveys, items expected to be popular this year are personal electronics, large-screen TVs, toys, small appliances, women's fashion boots and jewelry.

"There's going to be a nice representation of stores, the food court, anchors and specialty stores," Hopkins said. "Shoppers aren't going to be disappointed about their options."